The Star of the Show Is Strapped on a Wrist

PARIS — It is possible that the most coveted invite in French fashion, even when fashion week is not underway, may be to a meal at Azzedine Alaïa’s kitchen table, where one is as likely to be seated next to Kanye West as Nicolas Ghesquière, Pedro Almodóvar as Rei Kawakubo (not to mention any variety of seamstresses and assistants from the atelier upstairs), while Mr. Alaïa stirs pots on the stove.

Throw in the added attraction of Apple’s Jonathan Ive, however, timed for the penultimate night of the entire ready-to-wear season, and the hot-ticket appeal increases exponentially. Which may be why the dinner Mr. Alaïa hosted on Tuesday night with his friend Marc Newson — in honor of Mr. Ive and Mr. Newson’s new collaboration, the Apple Watch — grew from 50 to about 220 of their closest friends within the space of a week.

All those people were never going to fit in the kitchen.

Instead, fashion’s great and good — which included executives (François-Henri Pinault, chief executive of Kering, and Adrian Joffe, president of Comme des Garçons International), designers (Lanvin’s Alber Elbaz and Olivier Rousteing of Balmain), models (Cara Delevingne and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley) and editors of Vogues British, Italian and Chinese — were crammed into a long, galleried space that normally acts as Mr. Alaïa’s showroom. They were joined by nonfashion types like Mick Jagger, Lenny Kravitz and Jack Lang, the former French minister of culture.

“This is kind of a reunion for us,” said Frederick Lukoff, the chief executive of Stella McCartney, referring to the fact that one of the Apple hosts was Paul Deneve, the former Yves Saint Laurent chief executive. (Y.S.L. and Stella McCartney are both Kering brands.) He and Mr. Lukoff were also former Apple employees in their youth.

A makeshift stage had been rigged up at one end, and arrayed around a long table in the middle of the room were 39 smaller round tables. The central table was not, as one might have assumed, the head table. Rather, it was a display for Apple Watches.

“I want that one,” said Anna Dello Russo, the Japanese Vogue editor at large and street-style star, pointing at the rose-gold edition with a white leather band.

“Really?” said Maria Grazia Chiuri, a designer of Valentino, whose show had taken place that day. “I like that one.” She pointed at the white plastic sports version with a white casing.

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Mick Jagger joined fashion’s star set but refused to be enticed into a song.CreditAndrea Aversa

Ms. Dello Russo, who was wearing a Valentino gown (“I like to wear gowns: gowns in the morning, gowns at night”), looked skeptical. In any case, she was soon elbowed out of the way by the photographer Paolo Roversi, who was snapping pictures of the mutating watch display on his iPhone 6.

Admittedly, not everyone was as enthralled. Bernard Blistène, the director of the Centre Pompidou, raised an eyebrow when asked if he thought the watch may end up in a museum.

Still, it took a performance by the pianist Jeff Cohen and the Spanish dancer/choreographer Blanca Li, doing a flamenco number in a long Alaïa dress, to get everyone seated for dinner. The entertainment paused during the meal (fish), but after the main course, the actress Rossy de Palma and Ms. Li once again took to the stage.

“Sing with us!” they exhorted the audience before beginning a rendition of “Bésame Mucho” that involved crowd participation, including Ms. de Palma’s strolling through the tables and enacting the song’s title with Mr. Lang, to his apparent surprise.

Salma Hayek, who had accompanied her husband, Mr. Pinault, was pulled onto the stage for another number. Mr. Alaïa joined in on another with a series of meows (it was a cat song), though he hid behind a pillar. But Mr. Kravitz and Mr. Jagger refused to be drawn in. Disappointed, Mr. Alaïa stuck out his tongue.

What did Mr. Ive, who was hanging in the back, make of all this? “Yeah, it’s good fun,” he said. “It’s nice to see some old friends.”

Mr. Newson, who was standing nearby, paused for a moment and looked around the room, which by midnight was in the process of turning into a disco.